An Unlikely Hero
by Raikune
Summary: AU. What if, the night the Kyuubi came, Kakashi and not Naruto was by the Fourth's side?


**Title**: An Unlikely Hero  
**Author**: raikune  
**Rating**: PG  
**Characters**: Kakashi, Minato  
**Summary**: AU. Drabble. What if, the night the Kyuubi attacked, Kakashi and not Naruto was the by the Fourth's side?  
**Notes**: Originally posted on LJ for naruto100's weekly drabble contest. The challenge was 'in another world.'  
**Wordcount**: originally 480, extended to 668

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"So…you're staying with me." Minato reached out and grasped his student's hand. "You've made your choice."

"Yes, sensei."

"You're a fool. A brave one, but still a fool." The Fourth's eyes strayed to the horizon where the Kyuubi was roaring. "You should be somewhere safe. I should drag you away right now, Kashi-kun."

"But you won't," Kakashi said quietly. He winced at the heat emanating from the Fox's demonic chakra. "What will you do, sensei?"

Minato shook his head. "I don't know." His face looked tired and old; lines had appeared where there were none before. "I'll try and stop it, as much as I can. I probably won't make it out alive…"

"Don't do this," Kakashi said desperately. His voice sounded high and young, and he hated it. His Sharingan spun wildly.

"I have no choice," his teacher intoned. His voice was dull and leaden as he swayed on the moving bulk of Gamabunta. They were coming closer and closer to the Kyuubi. Minato's face was an unearthly orange, stained by the fox's hideous light.

The Fourth clenched his fists. He didn't want Kakashi to be here, to see him die like this. Yes, he was strong enough to hold off the Kyuubi for awhile, but the creature was much too powerful, all he could do was slow it down…

Well…no.

Minato felt his mouth dry and his sweat freeze on his skin. There was another option. But it was a horrible one, more for the boy then for himself. It involved the use of a forbidden jutsu. There was no guarantee it would even work…Kakashi might _die_…

An earth-shaking roar sounded through the night. The Hokage knew his time was running out and his options were limited.

Kakashi saw Minato give him a slow, speculative glance that was more terrifying then the beast on the horizon. There was so much dread in that expression that his insides turned to ice.

"I'm sorry," his teacher murmured. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

"W-what?"

The Fourth ignored him. The Kyuubi had turned to face them, watching the tiny humans with malevolent eyes. Hot, smoky, wet breath washed out from its mouth in tides. Minato began to form complex hand-seals, fast as lightening.

Kakashi cringed as the air shook, gathering charge like a summer storm. Chakra crackled around his sensei's feet. The Hokage pressed his fingers together as a vortex began to form.

"_Shiki Fujin_!"

Then the Kyuubi began to scream, long and loud. A huge flash of chakra seared the night, temporarily blinding Kakashi.

"_Forgive me_!" his teacher yelled, over the Kyuubi's wails. "_Forgive me, Kakashi_!_ It's the only way_!"

Something hot and molten was pressed against his stomach. Kakashi convulsed wildly as chakra shot out through his mouth and eyes. His body crumpled.

Then, there was only heavy darkness, and the sound of a man sobbing.

---

Kakashi would awake, later, in an overflowing hospital with the sheets drawn round his bed. His body would ache with a savage, angry pain that was somehow disconnected from his own. He would raise a hand to his stinging face and cry out at what his eyes saw: whisker-shaped scars on both cheeks.

For now, he lies unconscious on Gamabunta's back, the seal on his stomach hissing as it cools. Next to him, in the arms of Jiraiya (who arrived too late), blue eyes open and filling with rain, lies Namikaze Minato. The old Sannin still hears the echoes of his student's last words as he lay dying, coming in a breathless stream:

_Kashi…sorry…forgive me…strong…like a son…sensei…he's hero now tell them a hero he's a hero…forgive me…love her kushina I love her…love naruto…cold…what I could I did…never forget…oh kashi please forgive me…_

And in a house not far away, a red-haired mother clutches her one-year-old son (now fatherless) and thanks God he was spared. Later, she will weep for her husband, but not yet. The sun is rising now, over the wasted village.

And a new dawn begins.

-end

A/N: The last four paragraphs were originally part of the drabble, but I had to cut it short so it could be eligible for the contest. However, I've added them on for FFN :D

EDIT: I'm writing a sequel/companion piece to this, set some time in the future. It has KakaNaru friendship. I'm posting it to FFN as well as to LJ. Please watch out for it :)


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